Nikolay Davydenko beats Fabio Fognini to move into the second round: 2011 BNP Paribas Open
Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko defeated Fabio Fognini of Italy in three sets 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open on Friday. It took the Russian just over two hours to complete the victory.
In the first set, Davydenko failed to hold his serve in the 12th game, losing the set 5-7. Fognini hit two aces and 59 percent of the first serves in the opening set. The Italian saved 4 of the 5 break points he faced in the first set.
After losing the first set, Davydenko completely turned things around in the second, as he broke Fognini three times to win it 6-2.
The Russian hit 76 percent of his first serves in the second set, converting 58 percent of them into points. On the other hand, his opponent did not serve that well, as he hit 48 percent of the first serves and won 67 percent of the points on them.
In the final set, both players exchanged a break of serve in the first eight games and levelled the score at 4-4. Davydenko then broke again in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead and held his next service game to claim the final set 6-4.
The Russian converted 2 of the 5 break points he got in the deciding set. In comparison, his opponent won just 1 of the 2 break points he had in the third set.
Former world number three Davydenko started the year at the Qatar Open in Doha, where he lost to world number two Roger Federer in straight sets 3-6, 4-6 in the final. He then lost to Florian Mayer in four sets 3-6, 6-4, 6-7(4), 4-6 in the first round at
the Australian Open.
The 29-year-old is slated to meet world number 14 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in the second round. Wawrinka, seeded 12th at the championship, received a bye in the first round.
The Russian leads Wawrinka 1-0 in their head-to-head encounters. He defeated the Swiss in four sets 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the third round of the French Open in 2009.
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